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5200 HSC Season 9 Round 3 Popeye


zylon

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Our game for round 3 is Popeye. Play on default settings. Emulation is fine, as are custom controls. Pics preferred, but not required except for HSC wins and records.

Round ends on Sunday, march 27th 2016 @9pm EST

 

 

As an added bonus, try Popeye Arcade52 for 3-2-1 bonus for top 3 scores!

 

Current HSC record: Bust it for a bonus point!

Popeye -
phuzaxeman 205,190
Final scores:
149,830 Ballblazer +11+2=13
114,440 sdamon +10+3=13
69,080 darthkur +9+1=10
62,460 S.BAZ +8
62,200 Mangia-Boy +7
47,660 peedenmark7 +6
26,570 jblenkle +5
20,900 RangerG +4
7,400 zylon +3
PopeyeArcade52 scores:
107,240 sdamon +3
107,110 Ballblazer +2
104,510 darthkur +1
34,910 roadrunner
19,120 jblenkle

Popeye.BIN

Popeye Arcade52.bin

Edited by zylon
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266,670 would be a new 5200 HSC record, but... I think I should probably re-play and submit a new score. I found what seems to be a bug on the Love Notes round (i.e. Round #2). Details below.
Here's the buggy behavior: In the Love Notes round, if Popeye grabs the spinach just as Brutus pauses before reaching down at Popeye from the platform above, Brutus continues his reaching animation, touches Popeye, and flings himself into the water. Mildly funny -- which is why I tried it in the first place. But when Brutus then reappears from the water, he can't climb back up from the lowest platform. This makes completing the round a relative breeze.

I'd guess that this behavior is caused by the unexpected interruption of Brutus' "reach-down" sprite routine. Because the spinach knock-out apparently doesn't reset Brutus' character state(s), he ends up stuck in reach-down mode for the remainder of the round. Presumably the game programming dictates that Brutus can't do two things at once, so... if he's reaching down, clearly he can't simultaneously climb stairs. If you have a better explanation for this, lay it on me!
Curious to know whether this occurs in the original arcade version or other ports, I tried the arcade version using MAME, and the NES port using emulation. In MAME, the arcade version does not allow this to happen -- Brutus either hits you with his reach, or you grab the spinach and he turns tail and runs. And if he leaps down onto you as you grab the spinach, he's able to climb stairs normally after reappearing. The NES port also seems immune to this, as I didn't seem to be able to get Brutus to even try to reach for me from the above platform. No idea about other ports, but I'd be interested to hear if this happens elsewhere. I suspect it also will happen in the Atari 8-bit version.
Anyway, I posted my score and video because I thought it was, regardless, an entertaining playthrough. I pulled off what might be a frame-perfect trick (Round 1). I ended a round with a cool sprite glitch (Round 14). I had some really close calls (Rounds 3, 13, 14, 15, and 16). I lost my last two lives in under a minute, to two BS failed vulture punches -- both of which feel to me like bugs, the first one especially. My playthrough video also shows that triggering the Love Notes behavior/bug isn't foolproof; Brutus totally ignored me standing below him in Round 14. This would be my only argument for allowing my score, but I suppose it's a pretty thin one...

Since I figure nobody wants to watch over a half-hour of Popeye to see a few interesting things :P , I listed the times of the various highlights over on the YouTube page in the video information.
Edited by Ballblaɀer
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I have been seen that before, but always thought the cart glitched up, as it didn't seem regular. I'll have to try triggering it.

 

I'd say do not use this as it gives a free stage run to those who master it. Thanks for your honesty. :)

Edited by zylon
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I've done a little more testing... the same bug doesn't seem to happen if Brutus reaches up for Popeye while he's grabbing spinach in Round 1. Brutus knocks himself into the water, but can climb steps immediately afterward. So... perhaps my explanation for the Round 2 bug isn't quite right, and instead there's some pathfinding variable that's getting messed up somehow. Or maybe it's something specific to the Round 2 playfield/map. Either way, it's clearly unintended behavior, so I'm totally fine to re-play and re-submit a score.

 

Now... someone tell me how punching a not-fully-descended vulture should lead to a death. :? :-o :mad:

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I've done a little more testing... the same bug doesn't seem to happen if Brutus reaches up for Popeye while he's grabbing spinach in Round 1. Brutus knocks himself into the water, but can climb steps immediately afterward. So... perhaps my explanation for the Round 2 bug isn't quite right, and instead there's some pathfinding variable that's getting messed up somehow. Or maybe it's something specific to the Round 2 playfield/map. Either way, it's clearly unintended behavior, so I'm totally fine to re-play and re-submit a score.

 

Now... someone tell me how punching a not-fully-descended vulture should lead to a death. :? :-o :mad:

 

That is just bad collision detection.

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266,670 would be a new 5200 HSC record, but... I think I should probably re-play and submit a new score. I found what seems to be a bug on the Love Notes round (i.e. Round #2). Details below.

Here's the buggy behavior: In the Love Notes round, if Popeye grabs the spinach just as Brutus pauses before reaching down at Popeye from the platform above, Brutus continues his reaching animation, touches Popeye, and flings himself into the water. Mildly funny -- which is why I tried it in the first place. But when Brutus then reappears from the water, he can't climb back up from the lowest platform. This makes completing the round a relative breeze.

 

I'd guess that this behavior is caused by the unexpected interruption of Brutus' "reach-down" sprite routine. Because the spinach knock-out apparently doesn't reset Brutus' character state(s), he ends up stuck in reach-down mode for the remainder of the round. Presumably the game programming dictates that Brutus can't do two things at once, so... if he's reaching down, clearly he can't simultaneously climb stairs. If you have a better explanation for this, lay it on me!

Curious to know whether this occurs in the original arcade version or other ports, I tried the arcade version using MAME, and the NES port using emulation. In MAME, the arcade version does not allow this to happen -- Brutus either hits you with his reach, or you grab the spinach and he turns tail and runs. And if he leaps down onto you as you grab the spinach, he's able to climb stairs normally after reappearing. The NES port also seems immune to this, as I didn't seem to be able to get Brutus to even try to reach for me from the above platform. No idea about other ports, but I'd be interested to hear if this happens elsewhere. I suspect it also will happen in the Atari 8-bit version.

Anyway, I posted my score and video because I thought it was, regardless, an entertaining playthrough. I pulled off what might be a frame-perfect trick (Round 1). I ended a round with a cool sprite glitch (Round 14). I had some really close calls (Rounds 3, 13, 14, 15, and 16). I lost my last two lives in under a minute, to two BS failed vulture punches -- both of which feel to me like bugs, the first one especially. My playthrough video also shows that triggering the Love Notes behavior/bug isn't foolproof; Brutus totally ignored me standing below him in Round 14. This would be my only argument for allowing my score, but I suppose it's a pretty thin one...

 

Since I figure nobody wants to watch over a half-hour of Popeye to see a few interesting things :P , I listed the times of the various highlights over on the YouTube page in the video information.

 

Always when I see videos of such excellent scores, I wonder why I don't play the game in the same manner.

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While a tie in HSC points, the round goes to Ballblazer for winning the main game. :thumbsup: Thanks to all who played and be sure to join us for our next round, which also seems to involve food... :ponder:

 

 

Final scores:
149,830 Ballblazer +11+2=13
114,440 sdamon +10+3=13
69,080 darthkur +9+1=10
62,460 S.BAZ +8
62,200 Mangia-Boy +7
47,660 peedenmark7 +6
26,570 jblenkle +5
20,900 RangerG +4
7,400 zylon +3
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